Machine for treating flax and other fibrous plants.



W. 0. BEERE & J. E. ROUGH. MACHINE FOR TREATING FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUSPLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.28, 1914- 1,219,691.

\ I/v VE/w'o Rs' Wm Fmp OZMSQYZEERE W V S 5 E S 4me: EkwesfitomwPatented Mar. 20,1917.

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. WYNFORD ORMSBY BEERE, OF WELLINGTON, AND JAMES ERNEST ROUGH, OFFOXTON,

Eur @FFT@E.

NEW ZEALAND. V

MACHINEFOB. TREATING FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nae. 2o, rear.

Application filed August as, 1914. Serial No. 859,114..

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatrwe, WYNFORD ORM'sBY BEEREand JAMES ERNEST ROUGH, citizens of the Dominion of New Zealand, andresiding at 54. Thompson street, Wellington, New Zealand, and Eastonstreet, Foxton, New Zealand, respectively, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Machines for Treating Flax and other FibrousPlants, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines designed for the purpose of obtainingfiber from fibrous plants ready for market in one operation.

We have found that when plain rollers are arranged in verticallysuperposed pairs and with the axles of each pair in the same horizontalplane, the water sprayed upon the rollers is slow in getting away, withthe result that the water collects in the channel formed by each pair ofrollers. The tips of fibers descending from an upper pair of rollersinto the pool of water so collected tends to fioat and curl up insteadof passing directly to the lower pair of rollers. The curled up, tips ofthe fibers are crushed and made useless, and a loss of fiber therebyensues.

Rollers fluted longitudinally and circumferentially have been used forcrushing and otherwise treating fibrous plants, and such rollers permitof the escape of water, but

do not treat flax in the eflicient manner we desire and attain.

Our rollers are provided with a plurality of grooves running from oneend to the other of the roller, the rollers being geared together insuperposed pairs, and the grooves of one of the rollers, in each pair ofrollers corresponding or registering with grooves of" the other. roller-The grooves may terminate in circumferential grooves near the ends ofthe rollers.

The number of grooves in any pair of rollers differs from'the'numberofgrooves in any other pair of rollers.

The grooves may be parallel to the axis of the roller, but the mosteffective way of carrying off the water is to make the grooves in curvesand the curve we prefer is a long spiral extending longitudinally of therollers, and with the grooves of one roller in each pair of rollersarranged in a spiral direction reverse from the spiral direction of thegrooves of the other roller, and with the direction of the grooves inany pair ofrollers reverse to the direction of the grooves in a nextsucceeding pair of rollers. The spiral grooves have the effect ofspreading the fibers over the length of the rollers, and this spreadingof the fibers makes the treatment thereof more effective.

. The rollers of each pair of rollers being geared together, each'spiralgroove of one roller rolls accurately in line and face to face with thereverse spiral groove of the other roller.

After leaving the rollers the fiber is squeezed between traveling belts,which pass between rollers, heated by steam or otherwise if desired.

The drawings herewith illustrate the invent1on:-

Figure 1, is a diagrammatic side elevation ofthe machine.

Fig; 2, a'plan of a pair of rollers with spiral grooves.

Fig. 3, a part elevation, onan enlarged scale of the rollers shown inFig. 1, with spiral grooves.

Fi 4, a cross sectional elevation of a pair of ro lers.

Fig. 5, a section of part of the rim of a roller on a larger scale.

Fig. 6, a plan of a pair of rollers with grooves parallel to the axis ofthe rollers.

Fig. 7 a plan. of a pair of rollers parallel to the axis and extendingthe whole length of the rollers.

Fig. 8, a roller with grooves having a regular curve, and,

Fig. 9, a roller with grooves having undulating curves.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4:, superposed rollersl and 2 are arranged in pairs and each roller has a plurality of spiralgrooves 3 extending longitudinally and terminating at their ends inabove or below will circumferential grooves 41 and 5. The corners 6 and7 of the grooves are rounded in order to prevent injury to the fiber.The grooves in the rollers 1 are arranged with their spirals in onedirection and the grooves in the rollers 2 in a reverse direction.

The rollers 1 and 2 are geared together by spur wheels 8 and 9 and sothat the grooves of the rollers 1 fall upon or into correspondence andface to face with the grooves of the rollers 2, the grooves rollingtogether and forming a combined channel for the passage of water, whichthus readily finds its way between the roller and the fiber, which isthereby prevented from clinging to the roller. The plain surface Fbetween the grooves 4 and 5 and the ends of theroller form surfaceswhereon the rollers roll smoothly and overcome anychattering whichresults when grooves are rolled together without such plain surfaces.The direction of the grooves in any roller 1 is the reverse of thedirection of the grooves in any rollerl or 2 immediately above or belowa first roller 1 or 2 respectively. Thus if the grooves in a roller havea right hand spiral, the groovesin a roller immediately have a left handspiral. See Fig. 3.

The number of grooves in each roller of a pair of rollers 1 and 2 is thesame, but the number of grooves in each roller of any pair of rollers 1and 2 is different from the number of grooves in each roller of anyother pair of rollers 1 and 2. This arrangement of grooves provides thatthe fiber shall be treated evenly and thoroughly throughout its wholelength.

The fibrous leaves are delivered to the rollers 1 and 2 by any ordinarymouthpiece and feed rollers, not shown on the drawing.

The rollers 1 and 2 are forced together by springs and water is sprayedupon the rollers in a well known manner.

The fiber leaves the lowermost pair of rollers l and 2 and falls uponthe conveyor belt 10. running around pulleys 11 and 12. An endless belt13 runs around pulleys 14 and 15 and rollers 16 and 16 press the beltstogether and squeeze the moisture out of the fiber. The rollers 16 and16 are preferably heated by steam or otherwise to increase the dryingeffect.

The endless belt 13 and its pulleys 141 and 15 may be dispensed with,but a better result is obtained by using two belts as described.

Referring to Fig. 6, the grooves 17 are parallel to the axis of therollers 1 and 2 and terminate in circumferential grooves 18 and 19. Forthe purpose of treating fibrous material to the best advantage thenumber of grooves in each roller of any pair of rollers is the same, butthe number of grooves in the rollers of any pair of rollers is differentfrom the number of grooves in the roller of any other pair of rollers.Effect in working can, however, be carried on by making the number ofgrooves in any pair of rollers different from the number of grooves inthe next adjacent pair of rollers, although the numbers of grooves maybe the same in pairs of rollers which are not adjacent.

In Fig. 7 the grooves 20 are parallel to the axis of the rollers 1 and 2similarly to the grooves 17, but in this case the grooves run to theends of the rollers. The differentiation in the number of the grooves inthe different pairs of rollers is as described with reference to Fig. 6.

In Fig. 8 the grooves 21 form a continuous regular curve from end toend, and in Fig. 9 the grooves 22 undulate from end to end.

Scrapers of known construction are used with the rollers having curvedgrooves, that is to say, scrapers with working edges parallel to theaxis of the rollers, but with roll ers having grooves parallel to theaxis of the rollers the working edges of the scrapers are arranged at anangle to the axis of the rollers. These scrapers are well known in flaxmachinery.

IV hat I dd claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 1. In a machine of the kind described,

superposed pairs of rollers the axes of each pair being in substantiallythe same horizontal plane, grooves extending longitudinally of therollers and terminating in circumferential grooves near the ends of eachof the rollers, the number of grooves in each of the rollers of eachpair being the same.

2. In a machine of the kind described, superposed pairs of rollershaving grooves extending longitudinally of the rollers and terminatingin circumferential grooves near the ends of the rollers, the grooves inone roller in each pair of rollers cor "esponding and registering faceto face with the grooves of the other roller as the pair rotates so asto form a combined channel for the passage of water.

3. In a machine of the kind described, a pair of rollers having theiraxes in substantially the same horizontal plane and having spiralgrooves which terminate in circumferential grooves near the ends of therollers, the grooves of one roller registering with reverse grooves onthe other roller as the rollers rotate, so as to form a combined channelfor the passage of water.

4. In a machine of the kind described, a pair of horizontally disposedrollers having grooves extending longitudinally thereof, the groove ofone roller registering with those of the other to form a combinedchannel and each roller terminating in a circumferential groove neareach end.

5. In a machine of the kind described, superposed pairs of rollers havinspiral grooves which terminate in circum 'erential grooves near the endsof the rollers, the grooves of any one pair of rollers being set in areverse direction to the grooves of the pair of rollers immediatelyabove or below the first said pair of. rollers.

In testimony whereof We have signed our Copies of this patent may beobtained for names to this specification in the presence of twoWitnesses.

WYNFORD ORMSBY BEERE. JAMES ERNEST ROUGH.

WVitnesses to signature of Wynford Ormsby Beere:

HENRiE HAMPTON RAYWARD, EDNA JOAN CoLLEY. Witnesses to the signature ofnest Rough:

JOHN HERBERT HANKINS, PETER LOCKHART SIM,

James .Er-

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

